Bracket Breakdown

First I would like to give a shout out to a few local teams in the area. The Atlanta Hawks, who are on a five game winning streak, looking to extend it to 6 tonight against the hapless Sacramento Kings, the Atlanta Thrashers who are currently riding a 6 game winning streak, the longest in the history of the franchise, and the Georgia Bulldogs who begin spring practice today. Too early for serious football talk, but I will begin to filter that in as the NFL draft approaches next month. Now onto the heart of the matter, tourney talk. Today's blog entry will give all of my picks, I know you are dieing to see them,so after much deliberation and careful thought, here they are...

Midwest Region
1st round
Louisville over play-in game winner
Siena over Ohio State
Arizona over Utah
Wake Forest over Cleveland St.
West Virginia over Dayton
Kansas over North Dakota St.
USC over Boston College
Michigan State over Robert Morris

2nd round
Louisville over Siena
Wake Forest over Arizona
West Virginia over Kansas
Michigan State over USC

Sweet 16
Louisville over Wake Forest
West Virginia over Michigan State

Region Final
Louisville over West Virginia

Breakdown: This is the top region in the tournament in my opinion. It is also the one that has given me the most trouble in deciding who will come out of this part of the bracket. I strongly considered Wake Forest, but I think there inconsistency outweighs the talent that they have. I also strongly consider the Spartans of Michigan State, but I think they have too many injury concerns and some confidence issues to deal with. Those are the two teams that I can see giving the most pause for concern. I do think West Virginia will make a solid run because of the matchups they face with inexperienced Kansas and questionable Michigan State. They could lose to Kansas in the second round, but we shall see soon enough.

West
1st round
Connecticut over Chattanooga
Texas A&M over BYU
Purdue over Northern Iowa
Washington over Mississippi State
Marquette over Utah State
Missouri over Cornell
Maryland over California
Memphis over CS Northridge

2nd round
Connecticut over Texas A&M
Washington over Purdue
Missouri over Marquette
Memphis over Maryland

Sweet 16
Connecticut over Washington
Memphis over Missouri

Regional Final
Memphis over Connecticut

Breakdown: I cannot see too many pitfalls preventing UConn and Memphis from reaching the regional final. Memphis while untested through the regular season, is talented, well coached, and strong defensively. Something about UConn seems off recently, I think a lack of a big time scorer in clutch time is what hurts them and plus if some team has some interior presence to be physical with Hasheem Thabeet than the Huskies could be in trouble. The one matchup I had trouble with is the Washington-Purdue matchup in the second round. I went back and forth several times. I like Purdue because they just won the Big 11 Tournament and they seem to be healthy finally. I like Washington a little more because their first 2 games will be played in Portland, Oregon, giving them a home court advantage so to speak. I worry Mississippi State could give Washington trouble, but we'll see soon. Missouri plays up tempo and I think they can get past gritty Marquette who has struggled some since losing their PG. I do not think that Marquette has the fire power to go very far. Cal-Maryland is intriguing, Maryland has beat some good teams this year so they could be a sleeper to look out for. This region is solid in the middle but the cream will rise to the top in this one. I would be surprised to see anything other than UConn-Memphis in the region final.

East
1st round
Pittsburgh over ETSU
Tennessee over Oklahoma State
Florida State over Wisconsin
Xavier over Portland State
UCLA over VCU
Villanova over American
Texas over Minnesota
Duke over Binghamton

2nd round
Pittsburgh over Tennessee
Florida State over Xavier
Villanova over UCLA
Duke over Texas

Sweet 16
Pittsburgh over Florida State
Villanova over Duke

Regional Final
Pittsburgh over Villanova

Breakdown: I think this region is pretty weak. I think Tennessee has an outside shot at knocking off Pittsburgh, but their inconsistency and their lack of discipline worries me. I anticipate Florida State making a run with Toney Douglas and company, but I also worry that Wisconsin could give them trouble by slowing it down and playing physical. Villanova plays there first 2 games in Philadelphia, and this should give them a huge advantage in their first r rounds. Another game I struggled with was UCLA-VCU, VCU pulled the upset on Duke a couple years ago, but I like UCLA because of their experience and success. They are well prepared and have a great point guard in Darren Collison. Duke is an interesting case, they are not the same teams of the Dukes of yester year. They have lost some luster, but this team is tough defensively. They could make a run at the Final Four but if their shots are not dropping they could be put out by Texas in the second round. If Pittsburgh can figure a way to keep DeJuan Blair on the floor they will be a serious threat to win the whole shebang.

South
1st round
North Carolina over Radford
LSU over Butler
Western Kentucky over Illinois
Gonzaga over Akron
Temple over Arizona State
Syracuse over S.F. Austin
Clemson over Michigan
Oklahoma over Morgan State

2nd round
North Carolina over LSU
Gonzaga over Western Kentucky
Syracuse over Temple
Oklahoma over Clemson

Sweet 16
North Carolina over Gonzaga
Syracuse over Oklahoma

Regional Final
North Carolina over Syracuse

Breakdown: Some unpredictability and a lot of upsets I foresee in this region. LSU-Butler should be an interesting matchup. North Carolina should roll the first 2 rounds. Gonzaga will give them some problems, I think, they have a lot of skilled players that can make some plays but I do not think they have the defensive ability to knock off the Heels. Western Kentucky over Illinois because of some questions on the health of the Illini and I just do not think they are that good. Syracuse, my new favorite team, will make a strong run, and if they get through the first weekend unscathed, I can see them giving North Carolina a run for the money. Oklahoma could lose to either Clemson or Michigan, they have been struggling recently since the Blake Griffin return. If Lawson is healthy the Heels should be in Detroit in April.

Final Four
Louisville over Memphis
UNC over Pittsburgh

UNC over Louisville

The two best teams will meet and the versatility, speed, and experience of the Heels will get them their title. Louisville is playing well, but I think Lawson makes the difference in the end.

My Top 5 games for the first round
1. UCLA vs. VCU
2. Clemson vs. Michigan
3. Boston College vs. USC
4. Arizona State vs. Temple
5. Oklahoma State vs. Tennessee

Enjoy the games. I will be back tomorrow with some baseball talk, ranking the outfielders for you. Thank you for reading.

Mb